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I just loved how they wore them with slim jeans and plaid flannel shirts, so I helped to bring the brand into J. Muytjens continued: “Red Wings were popular with lesbians there.
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It’s home to expensive art galleries, hip rooftop bars, and one of the city’s largest LGBTQ communities. When it came to Red Wing, Muytjens said plainly: “I saw them in Chelsea.” Chelsea, for those unaware, is Manhattan’s art district. Crew’s much-revered “In Good Company” section, which is where many American men first get introduced to storied names such as Barbour and Alden. We talked about his design process, his love for vintage, and how he chooses which third-party brands get included in J. Once made for loggers, carpenters, and longshoreman, the preppy clothier has since helped mainstream these blue-collar styles into white-collar offices.Ī few years ago, I had the chance to interview Frank Muytjens, then the head of menswear design at J. Crew showcased their collection of Red Wing heritage work boots. Thick cashmere cardigans were draped over Globetrotter suitcases striped rep ties rolled into lowball glasses. In the corner of one area, a bookshelf was stacked with Strand-issued classics - Kerouac, Hemingway, and Cheever among them. Dimly lit rooms were covered in plush leather chairs, oriental rugs, and wood paneling. Crew debuted their Liquor Store ten years ago, they transformed an after-hours watering hole into a menswear-only boutique laden with 1960s-era references to traditional masculinity. Staff would get calls from people wanting off this “gay porn” list.When J. Just wait-put ’em back on.’ ”Īt the time, though-and even more so when Burkard and others left, after the catalog giant Hanover Direct purchased International Male, in 1988, and tried to make it mainstream in the ’90s-there was a tightrope walk when it came to trying to not “appear” gay. “I mean, they were like, ‘Is this what you want to see?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, in a minute. Guys would walk in and just take their pants off immediately,” Dalton Wolfe adds with a laugh. “We’d do a casting, and 500 guys or more would show up. During the ’80s and early-’90s heyday of male modeling, the company would hire models fresh from Versace runways and cologne ads (though some models wouldn’t work with International Male, since it was looked at as a “gay” brand). They just took me in.” The gay guys around her didn’t have to hide in the closet at work, gossiping about their weekends and hitting up clubs and the clothing-optional Black’s Beach in La Jolla together. “Like, I met my people, and I was adopted by all those boys. Maureen Dalton Wolfe worked at International Male from about 1985 to 1990, first designing window displays at the San Diego retail store and then serving as an art director for shoots. Courtesy of ALL MAN: The International Male Story, © Brawn, LLC.
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But that didn’t stop the mainstream from dismissing it as a gay rag-skewered in a 1993 Seinfeld episode and the 2003 movie Zoolander-even as the catalog raked in $100 million at its height (mostly fueled by straight women buying for their men) and hit 3 million homes with quarterly mailers. Though it was shaped by a staff that largely consisted of gay men and straight women, International Male was never advertised as a gay publication. With an early tagline of “Freedom for the man,” the glossy catalog ran from 1976 to around 2007-thanks to mailing lists bought from magazines like GQ and Playboy-and invited men to order (and wear) whatever they wanted. And let’s get one thing straight: You wouldn’t be seeing Harry Styles or Kid Cudi in a dress if International Male hadn't first sent images of men in billowing pirate shirts to millions of homes in America. Starting in the late 1970s, the catalog treated men as objects of desire, kicked open the doors for decidedly sensual ad campaigns from Abercrombie and Calvin Klein, and prefigured the jacked physiques that dominate everything from the big screen to your Instagram feed. Another version of that moment: the first time they opened an issue of International Male, a mail-order catalog packed with ripped male bodies and seriously bold fashion, from yellow high-waisted military pants to coral mesh tank tops. Lots of gay guys will tell you that the moment they knew they were gay was when they lingered in the underwear aisle of a department store as a kid, ogling the torsos on the packaging.